Chapter 59:

In Gao Qiumin’s courtyard, the little demon slave he cherished so dearly had been stripped of her beautiful clothes and cruelly whipped fifty times.

The steward harbored a personal grudge because Xie Xuechen had once slapped him and taken the demon servant away for a day. He accused her of stealing the clothes of an important guest at the estate, and under Gao Qiumin’s orders, the demon servant was punished right in Gao Qiumin’s courtyard.

He rubbed his slightly sore hand, glared hatefully at the slave girl who was now covered in wounds and barely breathing, spat on the ground, and said coldly, “She’s actually tough. My hand hurts from beating her.”

Just as he was about to order someone to drag the demon slave away, he received instructions from Gao Fengxu, stating that the young master of Rongxue City had taken an interest in one of the demon slaves at the estate and ordered him to find out who it was. Instantly, the steward broke into a cold sweat. He suddenly realized that the mysterious white-robed youth was none other than the young master of Rongxue City—the peerless sword cultivator with ten innate spiritual meridians, Xie Xuechen.

The slave girl he had taken an interest in was naturally Lingling, the one the steward had just beaten to a pulp…

Recalling the sharp, icy killing intent in Xie Xuechen’s eyes, the steward had no doubt that if Xie discovered it was him who had beaten the demon slave so severely, his life would be over. His mind was in turmoil, consumed only by thoughts of self-preservation, and he hesitated to report the truth to Gao Fengxu immediately.

As night fell, the first scream pierced the air from an unknown corner, and a faint metallic scent of blood began permeating the estate. Soon enough, the guards of Moonlight Manor finally realized—they were under attack! The cultivators within the manor inexplicably turned on each other, their blades flashing in the darkness. The alarmed elders swiftly intervened, attempting to restrain their fellow disciples from retaliating. One elder’s brow furrowed deeply as he uttered through gritted teeth, “Demonic possession!”

Somehow, the demonic clan had possessed the cultivators of the manor without anyone noticing. With people coming and going these past few days, their vigilance had slackened, allowing the demonic cultivators to sneak in. The cultivators and servants of Mingyue Manor were thrown into chaos, as they couldn’t even be sure whether the friends and family standing beside them had already been possessed.

“Quickly, alert the Manor Lord!” commanded Elder Song, the leader, as he remained behind to oversee the situation. “This appears to be a coordinated attack by demon soldiers. The manor is no longer secure. You must immediately notify everyone to evacuate the honored guests without delay.”

As Elder Song finished speaking, even more horrific screams and roaring flames erupted in the distance, casting his face in an even darker, colder light.

“It’s the Battle Demon…” Elder Song’s expression changed slightly. Although the Ten-Thousand Immortals Formation blocked the Battle Demon’s true form from entering, even its projection was no less powerful than a Fajie cultivator. Worse still, it could stir up the killing intent in people’s hearts, causing them to lose their senses, unable to distinguish friend from foe, turning into killing machines.

The Battle Demon soon spotted Elder Song, and with a sinister grin, charged toward him. The two were soon locked in fierce combat, evenly matched. Elder Song took several blows, his blood churning, while the Battle Demon proved extremely difficult to kill. Not wanting to prolong the fight, Elder Song tricked his opponent and broke free, flying toward Gao Qiumin’s courtyard.

Gao Qiumin had also heard the screams from outside and saw the flames rising. Being still young, she was frightened and hid in her room, too scared to come out, and sent the steward to summon Gao Fengxu. Just as the steward reached the door, Elder Song walked in, his face pale yet severe.

“Elder Song!” Gao Qiumin anxiously rushed forward. “What exactly is happening outside?”

Elder Song replied solemnly, “Demons and demonic soldiers have invaded the manor. This place is no longer safe. My lady, you must leave immediately!”

Gao Qiumin’s face turned pale. “What about my father?”

Elder Song said, “The Manor Lord hasn’t responded. These demons came prepared, probably sending a very difficult opponent to engage the Manor Lord. My lady, you must come with me first!”

Gao Qiumin bit her lip and nodded firmly. “Okay.”

Just as Elder Song was about to take Gao Qiumin away, he suddenly stopped, lowered his gaze in thought, and said, “No, I’ve already been marked by the Battle Demon. Taking you away myself would be too dangerous… Steward Dai, have a cultivator escort my lady through a secret passage, and find a servant girl with a similar build to my lady to wear her clothes and act as a decoy while I draw the Battle Demon away.”

The steward trembled, his eyes darting, and stammered, “There’s a demon slave whose build is very similar to my lady’s!”

Without waiting for him to finish, the steward went to the side courtyard and dragged over Mur Xuanling, who had just been punished. Elder Song glanced at her and said, “She seems about the same height. Dress her in my lady’s clothes, and I’ll take her to draw the enemy away.”

The steward had one of the maids dress the demon slave in Gao Qiumin’s clothes. During the process, they accidentally removed the iron mask covering her face, exposing her pallid complexion and eerie demonic markings.

“She has a demonic aura about her,” the steward muttered.

Elder Song was unconcerned. “I have ways to conceal it.”

Gao Qiumin looked at the demonic marks on the slave’s face with disgust, took out a set of her own clothes, and had someone dress the slave in them. The slave’s original garments were still lying nearby, so she put them on instead. She frowned as she patted them down, feeling as though they were still tainted with the slave’s demonic aura.

After watching the steward and several cultivators escort Gao Qiumin through the secret passage, Elder Song picked up the unconscious demon slave and slung her over his shoulder, flying off in another direction.

Xie Xuechen had initially agreed to a sword duel with Gao Fengxu, intending to conclude it swiftly. However, Gao Fengxu was overly eager for victory. Upon witnessing the unexpectedly formidable power of Xie’s sword intent, he feared that losing to a Yuan Ying cultivator would tarnish his reputation. Breaking his promise, he employed the imposing aura of a Fajie cultivator to suppress Xie’s sword intent, resulting in a stalemate between the two.

A vague unease stirred in Xie’s heart when he suddenly heard commotion from outside. As a Fajie cultivator, Gao Fengxu, and Xie, with his ten innate spiritual passages, both possessed acute senses and swiftly detected the infiltration of demonic and fiendish qi from afar.

Gao Fengxu was baffled, unable to comprehend why demonic forces had invaded Mingyue Manor. Xie, on the other hand, saw the situation clearly—though he hadn’t anticipated Sang Qi’s assault would come this swiftly!

Linger!

His heart jolted at the thought of Linger still being inside the manor. He immediately withdrew his sword and said solemnly, “Demons have invaded the manor. The situation is dire. Let’s end this now. Please, Manor Lord, give me the key to the Soul Binding Ring!”

Gao Fengxu looked out at the distant flames and the screams echoing from afar, his expression darkening.

“Xie Xuechen, you don’t seem surprised by this invasion of demonic forces?” He cast aside his veneer of civility, fixing Xie with a dark glare. “How could the esteemed young master of Rongxue City possibly waste his time with a mere demon slave like this? Are you concealing something? Is this invasion somehow linked to you?”

Feeling the killing intent radiating from Gao Fengxu, Xie’s phoenix eyes turned cold, and his spiritual energy surged outward, forming a protective barrier.

“I have no intention of opposing Mingyue Manor,” Xie said, hearing the approaching cries of battle. His heart ached for Mur Xuanling’s safety, his handsome brows furrowing slightly, his voice growing colder. “But I know that the one leading the invasion today is the half-demon Sang Qi.”

Gao Fengxu’s pupils contracted. That name stirred up many unpleasant memories, ones that had once brought him shame.

“As for why he chose today to attack, I think the Manor Lord should know the truth better than I do.”

Hearing this, Gao Fengxu’s expression changed, and he raised his sword to block Xie, who was turning to leave.

“What do you know!” Gao Fengxu demanded harshly.

Xie’s thoughts were with Mur Xuanling. Seeing that Gao was unwilling to listen, he no longer wished to waste time, fearing that Mur Xuanling might be in danger. He coldly glanced at Gao Fengxu, and with Wanren in hand, he deflected Gao’s sword.

“Gao Fengxu, you shouldn’t be asking me this question!”

Gao Fengxu felt a numbness in his arm and was pushed back several steps by Xie’s Wanren. He watched helplessly as the white-robed youth flew away, unable to believe what he had just seen—Xie was only a Yuan Ying cultivator, yet possessed such power…

Xie’s words stirred a profound unease within him. His sole connection to Sang Qi was Su Ningxi. He had previously struck a deal with Venerable Master Miaohua: Miaohua would wed her Yin Xuan Girl to Mingyue Manor to become the next guardian of the Chaos Pearl, and in exchange, he would lend the revived Chaos Pearl to Mirror Flower Valley for three centuries.

However, Su Ningxi had secretly fallen for the demon priest Sang Qi and attempted to elope, only to be caught. On the wedding day, she even poisoned herself to death. Left with no choice, he had to make Su Ningzhen impersonate Su Ningxi, deceiving everyone while secretly preserving Su Ningxi’s corpse within the manor to nourish the Chaos Pearl.

Sang Qi had been pursued by the elders of Mirror Flower Valley but managed to escape. He had secluded himself in the demonic realm for years, and Gao Fengxu had assumed the half-demon was long dead. But he wasn’t… And now he had chosen to invade Mingyue Manor because…

Because Sang Qi believed that Gao Qiumin’s birthday was the anniversary of Su Ningxi’s death!

Gao Fengxu immediately thought of one place—his instincts told him Sang Qi must be there: Su Ningxi’s grave!

With a grim expression, Gao Fengxu flew toward the ancestral cemetery of Mingyue Manor.

The thick stench of blood, charred wood, and foul demonic energy assaulted Xie Xuechen’s senses. He struggled to pick up Mur Xuanling’s scent, tracking it all the way to Gao Qiumin’s courtyard. There, he spotted the hairpin he had once bought for Mur Xuanling lying abandoned on the ground—undeniable proof that she had been here.

Xie’s sharp eyes noticed that the table in the hall had been moved. He pushed the table and saw the stone slab beneath slowly slide open, revealing a steep and long secret passage. He jumped into the passage, catching a whiff of Mur Xuanling’s fragrance, which instantly energized him, and he sped forward.

His tall figure slightly hunched in the narrow tunnel, the cries of battle echoing above. Xie’s face turned pale, his right hand trembling slightly as he clenched it tightly, barely resisting the urge to rush up and fight. He could only keep reminding himself: this was already happening, something that could not be changed… He had returned for only one person…

After running through the tunnel for a long time, he finally saw the exit. Xie leaped out and found himself in a pine forest covered in snow. There were clearly footprints in the thick snow, one set smaller than the others—undoubtedly a young girl’s. Xie dashed through the pines, moving swiftly, and soon heard fighting sounds ahead.

Deep within the pine forest, a group of demon soldiers led by a demon general had surrounded a band of cultivators. Among them was a Fajie cultivator, while the rest were at the Yuan Ying level—certainly no pushovers. Yet the demon general was even more formidable, wielding endless tricks and illusions, forcing the human cultivators into a dire disadvantage. After a devastating strike, the Fajie cultivator lost all ability to fight and collapsed into the snow.

The demon general lunged toward the girl in the red cloak. She stumbled forward in her desperate escape, tripping and falling. Just as she was about to be seized, a massive sword descended from the sky, embedding itself in the snow behind her and blocking the demon general’s advance.

Xie Xuechen’s figure arrived shortly after, like a god descending from heaven, shielding the red-cloaked girl behind him. He drew Wanren and coldly stared at the demon general. At this time, he had not yet broken through to the Dharma Realm, nor had he mastered the Jade Gate Sutra, but with sheer courage, he was determined to stop these demonic forces!

The demon general was initially startled by Xie’s sword aura, but upon realizing he was merely a Nascent Soul sword cultivator, he relaxed. However, he soon found himself unable to laugh—this fearless swordsman was terrifying. The demon general attempted to avoid a fatal confrontation, but as he was merely a demon general, not a demon god, and demons could indeed perish, he valued his life and was unwilling to fight Xie to the death. The more he evaded Xie’s attacks and contemplated retreat, the more helpless he became.

With a final slash, Xie shattered the demon general’s demon core. The demon general died with an expression of disbelief, his eyes wide open. The remaining demon soldiers fled in terror, leaving Xie alone, kneeling weakly on the ground.

He gasped for breath, letting blood drip onto the snow, his vision blurring. Suddenly, a strange voice sounded beside him, shyly saying, “Thank you, Young Master, for saving me.”

At the sound of the voice, Xie’s head snapped up, his face filled with shock as he stared at the girl before him.

She was wearing Linger’s clothes, and her red hood covered half her face, but it wasn’t her!

“It’s you…” Xie felt as if all his blood had frozen in an instant. He suddenly understood—understood many things… All those strange rumors were true, saying that he had fought to the death to save Gao Qiumin. The truth was this! She had exchanged clothes with Linger, allowing Linger to draw away the demonic forces! And he had been deceived. He was here, but where was Linger…

A sharp pain shot through Xie’s chest, and he let out a muffled groan, spitting out hot blood, his body swaying dangerously. Gao Qiumin wanted to rush forward to support him, but he coldly pushed her away without hesitation.

“Who helped you draw away the pursuers?” Xie asked hoarsely.

Gao Qiumin’s carefully made-up face turned deathly pale from his coldness. She hesitated for a moment before softly replying, “It was Elder Song.”

She didn’t mention the demon slave, because she had never considered her important. But Xie immediately knew that it was Elder Song who had taken Mur Xuanling away.

“Where did they go?” Xie asked again.

Gao Qiumin shook her head. “I left first. I don’t know where Elder Song went after that.”

Xie furrowed his brows and turned to leave.

Gao Qiumin stared in shock at his retreating back, shouting, “Won’t you come with me?”

But he left without even glancing back.

Xie surmised that Elder Song had probably led Linger in the opposite direction to divert the pursuers. Without pausing for rest, he mustered his remaining strength, swiftly rode his sword through the air, and traversed hundreds of miles in an instant. As night fell, the wind and snow intensified. Battling against the gale, he suddenly detected the metallic tang of blood in the air. Glancing downward, he spotted dozens of demonic soldiers encircling an elderly Fajie cultivator with snow-white hair and beard.

Among the enemy forces, there were still two demon generals—a yaojiang and a mojiang—whose power was comparable to that of a cultivator at the Dharmakaya stage. These two demons, one on the left and one on the right, toyed with the human cultivator, wearing him down until he was utterly exhausted. Only then did they burst into laughter and join forces to assault him, tearing at his body.

Elder Song gritted his teeth tightly. He knew that the demon race was not like the monster race—they were far from unintelligent. The demons were inherently highly suspicious. If he handed over this fake young lady too easily, they would undoubtedly grow suspicious. Only by fighting desperately and refusing to retreat would they believe that the girl he was protecting with his life was truly the real Gao Qiumin. The demon general wanted to buy time, which suited Elder Song perfectly. As long as enough time was gained, the young lady would be able to escape.

Elder Song held on for a long time, his entire body covered in wounds from the bites of demon soldiers, blood pooling beneath him. Eventually, he could no longer maintain his Dharma form and was slain by the combined assault of the demon generals. Before the two demon generals could even revel in their victory, another white-robed swordsman appeared.

The golden tiger demon impatiently bared his sharp fangs, glaring murderously at Xie Xuechen and sneering, “A mere Nascent Soul cultivator dares to act so brazenly before us!”

Xie Xuechen carefully picked up Mu Xuanling, who was unconscious. She furrowed her brows tightly, letting out a pained groan from his touch. Xie Xuechen froze, then pulled up her sleeve, immediately spotting fresh whip marks.

—It was that demon slave steward!

Suppressing his regret and heartache, Xie Xuechen trembled as he lifted the hem of her skirt, revealing her delicate ankle. Because she had been forcibly taken beyond the range of the Soul Binding Ring, the restraints of the ring had activated, driving countless barbs deep into her bones. Electric currents surged through her meridians, inflicting unbearable agony akin to having her tendons torn from her bones. Even in unconsciousness, she convulsed involuntarily. Elder Song naturally paid no heed to the suffering a half-demon wearing a Soul Binding Ring would endure when forcibly removed from Bright Moon Village—in his eyes, this half-demon was no different from a corpse.

“She’s a demon slave,” the golden tiger demon Jiang also noticed the Soul Binding Ring and exclaimed furiously, “We’ve been tricked by that old man!”

Who would have thought that a Dharma Aspect cultivator would fight to the death to protect a demon slave?

“Kill them both,” the demon general sneered cruelly, “They’ve come this far already.”

Xie Xuechen suddenly raised his head. A gust of wind and snow swept strands of hair from his forehead, revealing his sharp, murderous phoenix eyes, which sent an inexplicable chill of fear through the two demon generals. In the next instant, a sword strike from ten thousand fathoms away sliced through the air, unleashing an overwhelming, razor-sharp sword aura straight toward them!

“This sword energy!” The demon general dodged the blade light in shock, unable to believe his eyes as he stared at the young swordsman. Though merely at the Nascent Soul stage, how could he wield such formidable sword energy!

A name flashed through his mind—Born with Ten Spiritual Passages, Xie Xuechen!

Few demons or monsters understood the distinction between being born with Ten Spiritual Passages and ordinary cultivators, and even fewer could compel him to unleash his full power.

Despite being an entire cultivation stage apart and surrounded by dozens of formidable foes, Xie Xuechen felt neither fear nor hesitation. With the frail demon slave cradled in his left arm and his sword gripped firmly in his right, he stood unyielding, refusing to retreat even an inch. His fearless resolve sent waves of panic through the enemy ranks.

The demonic general’s eyes turned blood-red, completely losing his sanity under suppression. His body suddenly expanded, revealing a frenzied and unyielding will to fight.

Drops of Xie Xuechen’s blood fell one by one, staining the snow beneath him crimson, and inadvertently dripping onto her eyelashes.

Her crow-wing-like lashes quivered lightly, and she slowly opened her eyes, her soft voice calling out.

“Big Brother…”

Amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, he held her tightly, his phoenix eyes softening as he looked down at her gently. “Ling’er, don’t be afraid.”

Amidst the horde of demons and monsters poised to strike, all eager to deliver the final blow to the already exhausted young man.

Xie Xuechen raised one hand and gently pressed it against the back of her head, pulling her into his embrace, his voice trembling slightly from his chest.

“Ling’er, don’t look,” he said softly.

Between the brows lies the divine spiritual passage. For ordinary cultivators, the first step is to open the Yin and Yang passages, followed by the divine spiritual passage. Some say those born with the divine spiritual passage are reincarnated immortals, destined by heaven, bearing the fate of the nation and the people.

Xie Xuechen had once believed this was his destiny. That his life did not belong to himself, but to the entire world.

Yet in the end, he sacrificed that destiny for one person, willing to give up his life to protect her happiness and peace for the rest of her days.

A brilliant golden radiance burst forth from the spiritual passage, outshining even the sun, causing blood and dark energy to ooze from the eyes of every demon and fiend who dared to look directly at it. Their hearts shattered with terror as they attempted to flee, but it was already too late. With a deafening roar, the light that pierced the night consumed all life, turning those demons and fiends into mere dust.

“Ling’er, run quickly… Sang Qi will be here soon…”

“Big Brother… Big Brother, what’s wrong with you? Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Ling’er, listen to me, run.”

“Big Brother, let’s leave together. You promised me, you said you’d take me with you! You can’t lie to me! I don’t want to be alone!”

“Ling’er… take care…”

Xie Xuechen knew he had no time left. His body’s vitality had been severed, his soul had no place to attach, and was shaken out of his body, exposed to the wind and snow. He finally understood what “the grind of time” meant. His soul, which did not belong to this era, was discovered at this moment. A force from the power of time nearly crushed his soul, forcing him to leave this world.

Xie Xuechen struggled to kneel on the ground, gazing painfully at the girl holding his lifeless body.

She couldn’t see him, only knowing she had lost the only person who had ever loved and cared for her. The pain in her heart far surpassed the pain in her body.

She cried, “I’m just a lowly slave. No one cares about me except you, no one loves me. I truly believed you when you promised to take me with you! When they were beating me earlier, I didn’t even feel sad, because I thought you would come soon to take me away. From now on, I could be with you every single day. Just the thought of it filled me with such joy.”

“Big Brother, wherever you go, I’ll go with you…”

—Ling’er, run quickly…

Xie Xuechen silently wept, tears streaming down his face. All he ever wanted was for her to be safe and happy, never realizing that the warmth he deemed insignificant had become the heaviest burden of her life—making her willing to die for him, and equally willing to live for him.

She carried him on her back, her tears blinding her vision. She bit her lip hard, refusing to cry out, but could not stop her body from trembling.

“Big Brother… don’t leave…”

The Soul Binding Ring drained her strength, and she fell to the ground, crashing into the cold corpse.

The wind and snow grew fiercer, as if holding a grand funeral for someone.

Layer by layer, the snow covered his eyebrows and eyes, his body, trying to take him away from her.

“Aaaa—”

She tightly gripped his hand, letting out a painful wail, like a blood-crying cuckoo or a young phoenix crying out.

Suddenly, an immense and formidable aura erupted from within her. On her pale face, eerie demonic patterns suddenly began to glow with a golden radiance, writhing and shifting as though alive. The overwhelming energy sent her disheveled hair whipping wildly, while her jet-black, moist eyes gradually took on a faint golden hue. That power abruptly shattered the constraints of the Soul Binding Ring—the iron band splintered apart, blood gushing from her ankle, yet she felt no pain at all.

In her heart, there was only one belief—to let him live!

At any cost, she would keep him alive!

Boundless energy surged from her delicate, petite frame, the pale golden light seeping into his icy body. She gazed fixedly at his lifeless face, desperate to give him everything she had—yet it all seemed in vain.

His body remained cold.

“Big Brother…” Her young, hoarse voice sobbed, trembling as she touched his cold cheek.

The disturbance had drawn more demons and monsters. She struggled to her feet, dragging her injured and bleeding ankle, and ran forward with all her strength, attempting to lure the pursuers away.

She did not know that someone was always following her, sharing the same pain and sorrow. He had witnessed everything but was powerless to stop it. The mysterious power within her surged into his body, condensing into a vermilion mark between his brows, slowly reconstructing his spiritual passage. Yet she believed she had failed to save him.

She also did not know that the power leaving her body had taken away the strange demonic patterns on her face.

Those were not demonic patterns, but chaotic energy overflowing uncontrollably. Now, she had given to him the power that all cultivators dreamed of.

Xie Xuechen could only watch helplessly as she exhausted her strength, collapsing into the snow, unable to rise again.

A silver-haired, black-robed half-demon slowly approached her, knelt beside her, and extended his long index finger to brush aside the strands of black hair covering her small face, revealing a pale, extremely weak expression.

“Ningxi…” As if sensing a familiar presence, he lowered his gaze, murmured softly, then gently lifted her delicate form into his arms.

Xie Xuechen wanted to chase after her, but someone held his shoulder.

“Do you truly wish to die here?” A soft sigh came from the god of the Wheel Mirror behind him.

As soon as the words were spoken, he felt a pulling force take him away from that icy, snowy land. The pain that had nearly shattered his soul vanished abruptly, but he was too weak to support himself, collapsing to his knees.

The Wheel Mirror god looked at him with compassion.

“Xie Xuechen, seven years ago, I saw you in the Wheel Mirror,” the deity uttered.

Xie Xuechen’s shoulders trembled, but he did not raise his head. His dark hair concealed his pale, stern face, hiding the profound sorrow and regret within. After a long silence, a hoarse voice finally escaped: “You knew all along that even if I returned to the past, I couldn’t save Ling’er. Yet you deliberately lured me back, forcing me to relive the same tragedy.”

The Wheel Mirror god extended his hand, lightly touching the cold Wheel Mirror, feeling the sands of time slipping through his fingers. “Do you know what time means to me?”

He didn’t wait for Xie Xuechen’s response and went on speaking by himself.

“Beginnings are endings, starting points are destinations. I can freely travel between past and future, yet I can only be an observer, unable to alter the past or future in any way. Every change creates a different world.” The god’s words were profound, touching the essence of this world, resonating like a great bell, awakening understanding. “Likewise, for the Fate Officer, this is also the nature of destiny. Every ending is written before the beginning, and every defiance of fate is also within the heavenly decree.”

Xie Xuechen slowly lifted his head, staring at the enigmatic official, his hoarse voice asking, “What wrong have I done, what wrong has Ling’er done, to suffer such a heavenly decree?”

The Wheel Mirror god slightly raised his gaze, his pitch-black eyes absorbing all light, dark and unsettling.

“I am Sichen, and even I cannot see through fate.” He slowly lowered his head, gazing at Xie Xuechen in blood-stained robes. “But someone once told me to wait here, saying that someone would come to unravel fate for me.”

“I thought you were that person.” The deity slowly stepped forward, standing before Xie Xuechen. “You possess the power of Chaos. The power of Chaos can reverse cause and effect.”

“But I couldn’t even save Ling’er.” Xie Xuechen closed his eyes in pain.

“You can save her.” The Wheel Mirror deity gently touched Xie Xuechen’s crimson mark between his brows. The mark faintly glowed as an immense surge of spiritual energy erupted from his meridians. “The Chaos Pearl bestowed its remaining power upon you, which is why it cannot awaken. If you shatter your meridians, the Chaos power will return to her body. However, this act will result in your complete annihilation—your soul and Dao dissolving into eternal oblivion.”

Xie Xuechen’s phoenix eyes sparkled with excitement, a wave of joy surging in his heart as he trembled, “So destroying my spiritual passage can save her?”

The Wheel Mirror god nodded. “Did you hear clearly what I said earlier?”

Xie Xuechen smiled faintly. “I heard clearly. It’s just returning what originally belonged to her.”

“Ai…” The Wheel Mirror deity let out a gentle sigh. “All who cross the Execution Platform of Gods are fools in love.”

Xie Xuechen’s lips curved into a slight smile as he slowly closed his phoenix eyes, the vermilion mark between his brows gradually glowing.

His Dao was unyielding, moving forward without turning back. His heart was selfless, without self, without love.

But in the end, his Dao heart shattered.

The spiritual passage emitted a dazzling radiance, engulfing the bloodstained figure. The once crimson-stained white robes gradually blurred within the luminous glow, as if being pulverized into golden dust that drifted through the air, ultimately dissipating into a wisp of smoke—vanishing eternally.

In this world, Xie Xuechen no longer existed.

That thread of golden light, the Chaos energy, also descended to its origin.

On the snowy city, the person opened his eyes, a tear sliding from the corner of his eye, a hollow ache in his left chest.

In this world, there was no longer a Xie Xuechen.